Some of my fondest memories have been created by time with my family and friends in our national parks – Colorado’s own Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountain, Black Canyon, and Colorado National Monument. We are blessed to have them and the tourist dollars they bring to many of our communities.
Our national parks, “America’s best idea,” as Teddy Roosevelt once called them, are crumbling; we haven’t had money to invest in them for decades. Our Congressman, Representative Scott Tipton, and his colleagues on the House Natural Resources Committee now suggest the “National Park Restoration Act,” where this money would come from leasing these federal lands to corporations to extract oil, gas, or minerals. I really resent that our beautiful America is being sold to the highest bidders, or the highest donors to politicians’ campaigns.
We have plenty of land here in the West that can be used for fossil and renewable energy; we don’t need to destroy our parks. It is time for a representative for the Western Slope who better represents our values. Scott Tipton is not that person. Please vote in November for real conservative representation, someone who will protect and conserve our national parks.
John Anderson
Durango
